


Spy Stories

by Gray Cardinal (Gray_Cardinal)



Series: Never What They Seem [1]
Category: Castle
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-18 07:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/877061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gray_Cardinal/pseuds/Gray%20Cardinal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I know that look,” Castle said.  “That’s your <i>this isn’t right</i> look.  So spill.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spy Stories

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** _Castle_ is the creation of Andrew W. Marlowe and the Castleverse belongs (more or less) to ABC Studios. This story is purely a figment of the author’s imagination, and may or may not reflect the studio’s and show staff’s perspective on the characters.
> 
>  **Notes:** This is a coda to the 5th season two-parter (“Target” and “Hunt”).

Castle eyed Kate over the remains of the family’s ordered-in Italian dinner – lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmigiana, and enough garlic bread to thwart a serious incursion of vampires.  “I know that look,” he said.  “That’s your _this isn’t right_ look.  So spill.”

Kate started to shake her head.  “What matters is you’re both back safe.  It’s just....”

“Your instincts.  Which I trust, implicitly.  And if they’re telling you we’re not done with this yet—”

“That’s just it,” Kate said.  “I do think we’re done.  But there are parts of this that just don’t add up, and if I’m right....”

“And that,” Castle said as she trailed off, “is your _you’re really not gonna like this_ look.  But I still trust your instincts.  So I say again, spill.”

Kate took a deep breath.  “Okay.  So in theory, the whole double kidnapping was staged so the KGB guy, Volkov, could take out this Agent 23.”

“My father,” said Castle.

“Right,” Kate said.  “But if that’s true, then Volkov had to have known in advance that Alexis was Agent 23’s granddaughter.”

Castle nodded, frowning.  “Of course.”

“But how would he find that out?  We didn’t know it.  The FBI didn’t know it.  And from what you said, your Parisian hired gun didn’t know it till Volkov turned him.”

“There were all the photos in Dad’s flat in Paris....”

Kate shook her head.  “Doesn’t work.  At best that was a temporary hideout; Volkov had to have made the connection weeks earlier at the least, in order to set up his own New York surveillance.  And there’s another problem with that stalker-wall.”

Abruptly, Alexis snapped her fingers.  “She’s right, Dad.  According to the embassy guys, ‘Agent 23’ is like, the superspy of all superspies.  So he wouldn’t make rookie mistakes, like putting up a lot of family photos someplace he was staying.  Unless...”  She trailed off.

“Unless he wanted them to be seen,” said Kate.

Castle stared at them.  “But – that doesn’t work either.  You said it yourself; Volkov started tracking Alexis weeks earlier, long before Dad landed in that safe house.”

Martha had been gathering up dishes; now she paused, setting a hand on Castle’s shoulder.  “Oh, Richard,” she said softly.  “Listen to her.  Those pictures were put there for _you_.”

“For—”  Castle sucked in a shocked breath, his eyes locked on Beckett.  “You’re saying he was playing me.  That—”

“That he set the whole thing up, start to finish,” Kate said flatly.  “And lied about it, beginning to end, through his CIA-trained teeth.”

“But that would mean—”

“That he set both you and Alexis up as pawns – pawns he was totally willing to sacrifice in order to get what he wanted.”

Castle bristled.  “Impossible!  No sane man would set his own family up like that....”  He trailed off.  “Wait.  You’re saying—”

“That he lied about that, too.”  Kate’s voice didn’t quite crack, but it was clear that she hated saying the words as much as Castle hated hearing them.  “Agent 23 isn’t your father, Castle.”

“But he knew about _Casino Royale_!”

Kate met his gaze evenly.  “Did he?  Think back.  How _exactly_ did that conversation go down?”

“He said—”  Castle frowned, recalling the scene.  “He said he’d been watching us, all along.  That he’d been there when I was ten, at the library.”

“You’ve told that story at hundreds of your signings,” Martha pointed out.

“About looking for a book, yes.  The title – no.  I’ve always kept that back, just in case.”

Kate pressed further.  “And this time?  Who said it first, Castle – 23, or you?”

Castle closed his eyes, took a breath – and cursed.  “Oh, hell!  I did.  He played me like a cheap psychic and I bought it, every damned bit.  He said he read my books, too – but he called them ‘spy novels’, as if they were all like the last few Derrick Storms.  I should have seen it, I should have—”

“You were focusing on Alexis,” Kate said, her tone still firm but now with a touch of gentleness beneath it.  “As you should have been.”

By this time, Martha had sunk back into her chair.  “But what was the point, then?  And why bring Richard and Alexis into it?”

“23’s goal all along was to take down Volkov,” said Kate promptly.  “The ‘granddaughter’ setup was meant to draw Volkov out, to let him strike back at 23 for his wife’s death.  But to make that work, he needed to manufacture a family – not just a granddaughter, but also a long-lost son who’d be rich enough and reckless enough to serve as the right kind of distraction.”  She gave Castle a knowing glance.  “And we all know who fits that description.”

He sighed ruefully.  “That would be me.  The linchpin case put us on the CIA’s radar; Agent 23 could easily have picked up a dossier and decided to take advantage.”

“Is there any way to prove any of it?”  That was Alexis, sounding thoughtful.  “And even if we could....”

Kate shrugged.  “We know Volkov and his people were behind the actual kidnapping.  But anyone who could prove 23 maneuvered him into it is probably either dead, way outside our jurisdiction, or both.” 

“I’m guessing both,” said Castle.  Kate’s summary of the stateside investigation had been carefully concise, but he’d snagged a more complete file when Ryan and Esposito had stopped by the loft – including descriptions of the dead, tortured members of the original kidnap team that he had no intention of sharing with Alexis.

There was a brief silence.  Then Martha spoke.  “One more question.  If this 23 person was lying all along, then why send that copy of _Casino Royale_?  Why not let us think he died in the firefight?”

A short laugh escaped Castle’s lips.  “That’s easy, Mother – it wouldn’t fit the story.  The superspy of all superspies always gets out alive – even if he’s a dirty lying bastard.  As far as Agent 23 knows, I still think he’s my long-lost father, so he’s sending me a calling card just in case he ever needs me again.”

“As if,” Alexis said, more than a touch of red-headed temper in her voice.  “And if he actually turns up someday?”

“If that ever happens,” Castle said after a moment, “I shall let you three ladies exact whatever torment you feel appropriate in the circumstances.  However,” he added, “don’t start planning your revenge just yet.”

“And why not?” asked Kate.

Castle grinned.  “Because now,” he said, “Agent 23 really will be reading my books, in order to keep up the charade.  And once he reads about the truly diabolical villain I’ve just thought up for the next one, he may well think twice about crossing our paths again.”

# # #

**Author's Note:**

> As the foregoing may suggest, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the outcome of this pair of episodes (not least because I have my own ideas about Castle's parentage, which may yet surface someday). And nothing in this story explicitly contradicts what's in the episode as aired....


End file.
